After privatisation of Air India, govt to sell Alliance Air

• Follow

The government is planning to monetise its four other subsidiaries, including Alliance Air after the privatisation of Air India. It will also sell non-core assets such as land and buildings worth over Rs 14,700 crore, according to DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey. On October 8, the government announced that Tatas, the salt-to-software conglomerate, had won the bid to buy debt-ridden national carrier Air India for Rs 18,000 crore. This comprises a cash payment of Rs 2,700 crore as well as the assumption of a debt of Rs 15,300 crore. The sale of Air India Express and the ground handling arm AISATS is also part of the agreement, which is anticipated to be finalised by the end of December.

According to Pandey, DIPAM would now focus on devising a strategy for monetising Air India subsidiaries held by the special purpose company AIAHL and offsetting liabilities. “There will be a plan in place to monetize AIAHL’s assets.” Clearing AIAHL liabilities and disposing of assets is once again a massive undertaking. “There is a ground handling, engineering, and Alliance Air firm in the AIAHL that needs to be privatised,” said Pandey, who pushed Air India privatisation.

The government established Air India Assets Holding Ltd (AIAHL) in 2019 as a special purpose corporation to store debt and non-core assets of the Air India group as a preliminary to the sale. Air India Air Transport Services Ltd (AIATSL), Airline Allied Services Ltd (AASL), Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL), and Hotel Corporation of India Ltd (HCI) were transferred to the SPV, together with non-core assets, paintings and antiques, and other non-operational assets.